Remember This Night
by trekker4life
Summary: Songfic, oneshot. On the eve of battle with Naraku, old memories are shared and new ones are made, secret loves are revealed and returned. No matter what happens tomorrow, they'll always have this night.


_**Hi All!**_

**_Yeah, I know I should update some of my other stories (See ending A/N), but I just got this idea and it's one of those ones that won't go away until you write it._**

**_It's yet another Inuyasha songfic, but this one's an oneshot (mainly 'cause I don't have time for another multi-chap fic and, with this plot, another one of those would be a bit repetitive.) and it'll leave you at a little bit of a cliffie, but that's intentional, because, well, you'll see. _**

_**Anyway, I was practicing with my church choir for our Easter musical when we sang this song (it will be performed in the musical during the Last Supper) when this idea hit me. The song is called "Remember This Night."**_

_**Trekker**_

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The village was alive with activity: women were running between huts, gathering materials and ingredients, men were setting up the feasting tables. The festival tonight was sure to be a grand send-off for the adopted heroes of the village. The heroes were to face-off in a winner-take-all battle against their worst enemy the next day and the people of their home village wanted to make sure they never forgot this night.

_Come share the bread_

_Come share the wine_

_Come share the love we have_

_While there is time_

"Kagome," called Sango, "There you are! We've been looking for you." Kagome looked up at Sango from her spot underneath the branches of the Goshinboku. "Sorry if I worried you. I just needed to get away and think for a minute." Sango sat down beside her. "About what you're going to do after tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Kagome replied, "I mean, I don't even know if we'll survive tomorrow…. We only have five shards of the jewel, whereas Naraku has everything else." Images from the battles when Naraku gained the shards in the possession of Kouga, Kohaku, and Kikyou flashed through the minds of both girls. Kagome shook off the wave of memories first.

"If we do survive, and the jewel is made whole, what purpose is there for me here? Heh, I know that probably sounds totally selfish, but I can't help but wonder. I've spent so much time here over the past three years that I don't really belong in the modern era anymore, but I don't know if I really belong here either…."

Sango just sat and watched her friend. "I don't know what to tell you, Kagome, except that you know Miroku, Kaede, Shippou, and I would all love to have you stay with us, and as for Inuyasha, all I can say is just to talk to him. Tonight."

_Come share the bread_

_Come share the wine_

_Come share the love we have_

_While there is time_

The girls soon made their way back to the village to help with the preparations. Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen, but was always nearby in case of trouble. Soon the food was ready, the decorations had all been put up, and everything was set. Kagome was elected to track down Inuyasha for the meal; she started looking at the Goshinboku and eventually found him a few trees down from it. "Inuyasha," she called, "The food is ready and everyone's waiting." He hopped down from his perch and landed lightly in front of her. "Keh. 'Bout time." Kagome just smiled and turned to walk toward the village, Inuyasha falling easily into step beside her.

The villagers had reserved seats of honor at the head of an enormously long, low table for their heroes, with the seat at the very head going to Inuyasha. The food was delicious and the company incredible; no one in the group could remember ever having such a night. Memories of times past were recalled; tales of old adventures were told.

Sango and Miroku laughed aloud at Shippou's _very_ accurate recreation of the stone statue charm he used on Inuyasha when they first met; they were held in awe when told of the near-misses had by the group before their joining, including those with Yura, the Spider-heads, and Sesshoumaru.

_The table is ready_

_All will be right_

_Come share the memories_

_And remember this night_

While Kagome and Sango were smart enough to not partake of the sake and wine available, and Shippou was still _way_ too young to be drinking, unfortunately neither was the case with a certain hanyou and houshi. By the time the moon had reached the quarter mark in its usual path, they were both **_very_ **drunk. Extremely so, to be accurate.

That wasn't so unusual for Miroku, so he was used to it; he'd have a bad headache in the morning, but otherwise, he'd be ok. But Inuyasha? Kagome had never seen him drink more than what was required for the meal, much less to this length. A slight movement from her lap drew her attention away from the oddity. Shippou, who had crawled up to her lap sometime earlier, had fallen asleep and was evidently dreaming about something; something that was obviously pleasant judging by the fact that he wasn't calling out for her.

Kagome leaned over to Sango, who was seated to her left, and said that she was going to take Shippou back to Kaede's hut so she could put him to bed. "I'll probably follow him. Goodness knows we'll need our sleep for tomorrow."

_Come share the bread_

_Come share the wine_

_Come share the love we have_

_While there is time_

"Kagome," said Sango, turning to face her friend. "I really think you should talk to Inuyasha, tonight. Like you said, we may not survive through tomorrow." Kagome shook her head. "I thought I would talk to him about that earlier tonight, but now I'm not so sure. What if I tell him how I feel, and he doesn't feel the same, where does that leave us? I'd rather be at his side as a friend than not at all."

"I know how you feel, Kagome," said Sango, "But which would you prefer: telling him how you feel tonight, when there's a good chance he feels the same way about you, or not telling him and have either him or yourself die in battle tomorrow without knowing?"

Kagome didn't answer; she just stood up, trying not to wake Shippou. "I'm going to stay out here with Miroku," said Sango, "And make sure he doesn't get himself into any trouble…though how successful I'll be is debatable." Kagome laughed slightly, then turned to walk towards the hut they were staying in for the night, not noticing she had gained the attention of a now sober hanyou.

_Come share the bread_

_Come share the wine_

_Come share the love we have_

_While there is time_

After spreading out her sleeping bag, Kagome laid Shippou down and pulled the over him. She was reaching back for her bag to pull out her nightclothes when she felt a familiar presence in the hut with her. Before he could announce himself, she did so for him. "Hello, Inuyasha."

"Keh," he said, stepping closer to her, "How'd you know it was me?" She turned to face him. "You think I'd have spent these past 4 years here without being able to tell your aura apart from others? I think I've gotten stronger than that." _You have_, he thought. "Hey, Kagome," he said aloud, "Will you come with me for a while? I-it'd be nice not to be alone tonight."

She looked back at Shippou, trying to decide if she wanted to leave him alone, when Kirara walked in, apparently through with the party for the night. "Kirara," she said, "If you're going to be in here for a while, would you mind keeping an eye on Shippou for me?" Kirara mewled her affirmative and curled up near Shippou and the small fire burning in the pit. That left Kagome free to follow Inuyasha when he left the hut a few seconds later.

_The table is ready_

_All will be right_

_Come share the memories_

_And remember this night_

She followed him to the Goshinboku. He placed his arms around her, noticing that she didn't resist, and jumped into one of his favorite branches. They both sat down and any conversation lapsed into a somewhat uncomfortable silence. After a moment or two, Inuyasha finally turned his head to her. "Kagome, I want to ask you something, and since I'm not really sure how, I'm just going to say it, okay?" She nodded in response. "What do you plan on doing once the battle is over tomorrow?"

Kagome sighed and looked down. She had sort of been expecting a question like this. "I don't know, really. I guess I will return to the modern era, because there won't be any place for me here." "You don't sound like that's what you want to do though." Kagome thought for a moment, a very brief moment. "No, it's not. I'd much rather be here, given the choice."

That thought startled Inuyasha. "Why though?" Kagome just looked at him. "Why would you want to stay here? In a place that's not your home, away from the better medicine, education, transportation, and food that your home offers?" Kagome kept looking at him as she answered. "Because, _this_ place, _this_ time, its people, its places, its things, have become my home more so than the modern era could ever have been."

If Inuyasha was startled before, he was absolutely thunder-struck now. _N-nani?_ was all he could think; he couldn't even speak. "Inuyasha," said Kagome, "let me tell you about something that happened in the modern era. This was that one day several months ago when I left really early in the morning so I could go straight from here to school. I hadn't bothered to take anything out of my pack, and it's a good thing I hadn't. My friends and I were on our way home from school when there was a pretty bad car crash at the intersection in front of us."

Inuyasha was just able to follow along, thanks to watching so much 'tevee' at Kagome's house while waiting for her to return from 'skool.' He nodded for her to continue. "Well, I guess it's because of being in so many fights here in the feudal era, but I jumped right into help the injured. I pulled my first-aid kit out of my bag and began to treat them as well as I could. My friends just stood there, like they were statues or something."

_The table is ready_

_All will be right_

_Come share the memories_

_And remember this night_

"I finally had to yell at them to call someone for help. They did, and I continued to bandage these people up. It didn't even occur to me that by pulling a first-aid kit obviously set up to treat major wounds out of my bag might reveal my time-traveling secret; I just acted on pure instinct until the paramedics got there. Heh, they even said that thanks to the early medical attention I gave to the injured, all of them survived. But that really brought home to me how different I've become. I mean, my friends caught up to me the next day and actually told me that it seemed like I had grown up without them…."

She trailed off, not sure of where to go next in her explanation. Inuyasha finally recovered from the shock of hearing her story. She had never told that to him before. "Wow. I guess you would be good considering how much you insist on bandaging up me – lots of practice." Kagome smiled slightly, then picked up her explanation again. "The thing is, though, that even though this era is more of a home to me than the modern era, I don't really have a reason to stay."

"What do you mean? What about Miroku and Sango? What about Shippou?" he asked."Miroku and Sango have each other; they'll be fine," she said, "Shippou's getting older and bigger every day – I hate to admit it, but soon he won't need me anymore."

"Kagome," said Inuyasha, starting to become desperate at this point. _How can I keep her here?_ he thought. "What will it take for you to stay? What reason do you need?"

She looked at him; sadness touched her features, as well as resignation to something, he didn't know what. "The only reason I need is for the man I love to love me in return. But to love me for _me_. Just me; not my looks, or my abilities, or…" Her voice got much softer here. "Or for who I'm supposed to be." Regaining some of her volume, she finished her thought. "That's all I want: someone who loves me, _for just being me_! Can you tell me who that man is, Inuyasha?"

_Come share the bread_

_Come share the wine_

_Come share the love we have_

_While there is time_

Inuyasha's head was bowed, his facial expression covered by his bangs. The first thing she heard was: "You baka. You friggin' beautiful baka." The next thing she knew, she was enveloped in his arms. Inuyasha pulled back a little to look her in the face. "Do you really think that's all I see in you? Honestly?" Kagome couldn't give voice to her answer, only nod.

"Well, I'm going to prove you wrong on every single one of those counts, Kagome," he said, pulling her closer to him – into his lap, really – and leaning back against the trunk of the Goshinboku.

_Come share the bread_

_Come share the wine_

_Come share the love we have_

_While there is time_

"Your abilities are beyond anything I've ever seen; how else would you have been able to free me from this tree without any training whatsoever? And you're not pretty, or even beautiful – to me, you're as gorgeous as an angel." She still wasn't looking at him; rather, she was looking down at her hands in her lap. Inuyasha wanted to make sure she heard him on this next part, so he gently took her chin in his hand and tilted it toward him.

"And you are _not_ Kikyou. You are _Kagome_ and her alone. And you are also the woman, the _only_ woman, that holds my heart – whether you know it or not." Kagome was nearly in tears by this point and she opened her mouth to speak, but Inuyasha stopped her with one clawed finger on her lips. "Wait," he said, "I want to tell you something else tonight, but I need to know something first. Who is the man that you love?"

Kagome was just about in total shock at this point, but Inuyasha's question jolted her out of it. She looked at him and simply told him the truth. "You." It was a good thing Inuyasha was sitting down already; if he had been standing, his butt would have been flat on the ground. "You really do?" he asked, his voice so low she almost couldn't hear it. "You love me, a hanyou? Even when I've caused you so much pain?"

"Yes, I do," she said. Leaning closer to him, she said more firmly, "I love you, Inuyasha." _Oh, Kagome,_ he thought. "I, I love you too, Kagome. I just never knew how to tell you until now." Before either of them knew what was happening, their lips had met, and it felt like time had stopped for just the miko and hanyou sitting high in the tree. Unfortunately, the need for air broke the kiss all too soon; they just looked at each other and smiled. Kagome shifted around so that her back was to Inuyasha's chest and was asleep within minutes; Inuyasha watched her fall asleep, then followed her into the arms of the sandman.

_Come share the love we have_

Morning dawned all too soon for Miroku. He knew his limits for alcohol, yet he would still have a monster headache today, of all days. When he fully awoke, he noticed three things: one, Sango was lying next to him with her hand on his chest; two, Shippou was curled up next to Kirara near the dying embers of last night's fire; three, Kagome and Inuyasha were nowhere in the hut. Kaede came in a moment later, evidently having just finished her morning duties, and he inquired as to where his missing companions were.

Kaede said she didn't know, but to check at the Goshinboku. Miroku took her advice and left the hut to look for them, trusting a now-waking Sango to begin preparations to leave. When the houshi-sama came to the said tree, he found his two friends in the same branch, in the same position, as they had been in the night before. He laughed aloud and nearly shouted, "Finally!"

His laughter and shout startled the sleeping couple awake. When they looked down and seen that it was Miroku, Kagome just blushed like hell and turned around to hide her face in Inuyasha's haori. The vibrations she felt told her that her hanyou was growling something fierce, most likely at Miroku down below. "Oi, whaddya want, houshi?" he snarled, his voice betraying the fact that he was more annoyed than truly angry. Dammit, he _liked_ having Kagome in his lap; now with this 'interruption,' she'd only get up quicker.

Still retaining a rather larger grin on his face, Miroku decided it'd be a bit safer to answer the impatient and irritated hanyou's query than to not and risk his wrath. Too many youkai had chosen the second option and gotten the business end of Inuyasha's claws or Tetsusaiga. "I was merely sent to fetch the two of you seeing as you were gone when the rest of us awoke," he said, then his face and demeanor became more serious. "Sango is packing the supplies and Kaede is preparing breakfast as we speak. We should leave within two hours if we're to make it to the battlefield on time."

Inuyasha nodded in acknowledgement; Miroku turned to walk back toward the village. Kagome sat up quickly and, in doing so, pulled out of Inuyasha's arms, startling said hanyou for the second time in less than five minutes. "Kagome? What's wrong?" he asked. "Can you take me back down now, please?" she asked, her voice completely calm. That alone set off warning bells in Inuyasha's head. A totally calm Kagome was never a good thing. "Sure," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaping gently down to the ground. "Now what's wrong?" he persisted. Kagome bit her lip and turned back to face him. "Am I just a replacement? You never acted like this until after Naraku took those two shards she had and killed her, so I can't help but wonder…."

"What?" he said, shocked. "You really think I'm so horrible I'd treat such a treasure as a mere replacement? Well, you're wrong, _Ka-go-me_." Accentuating her name just as she once did got her to smile, even just a little. "That's much better," he said. He walked over to her and placed his arms around her shoulders. She looked so beautiful to Inuyasha; everything just felt _so_ right, standing there with Kagome in his arms, that he gave into an impulse and kissed her. When they finally broke apart, they headed back to the village with one of Inuyasha's arms still around her shoulders.

They met up with Miroku and Sango; said good-bye to Shippou – Kagome wanted him to stay back with Kaede instead of coming with them for this battle. When the packs were finished being stuffed full of supplies, the four warriors walked out of the village to cheers of good luck and well-wishes from all the villagers. They arrived at the meadow where they were to have the final battle within three hours; Naraku arrived soon after.

For a moment, all was calm; Kagome took Inuyasha's hand in hers and Sango did the same with Miroku's. Each person in the newly formed couples was seeking comfort from their partner; each gave it in return. The silence had nearly become deafening when a bird took flight from a nearby tree, knocking off a loose branch in the process. The branch fell to the ground; the sound of it colliding with the earth was like the starting bell of a prize fight, snapping the calm silence and signaling the start of the battle.

This was the final battle; the be-all-and-end-all; the climax of the war. In this precious moment in time, a fight to decide the fate of many things: the Shikon-no-tama, the past/present/future timelines, and of all of Japan, would begin. Our heroes did not know if they would survive, but they knew that even if they didn't, their legacy, in the form of love, would last forever.

_While there is time_

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**_Okay: good, bad, or ugly? I'm not entirely happy with it, but some of my ideas were a little hard to get down on paper…. I wanted to leave the ending like that, so no asking for continuations, ok? I really didn't think you guys would want a repeat 'final battle' so I thought this would be a good deviation from the norm…._**

_**This song, like I said, is about the Last Supper, which if you know anything about the Easter story (or you saw 'The Passion of the Christ') is the night before Christ is crucified. **_

_**BTW – I am a Christian (practicing – meaning I actually go to church and participate – Independent Baptist) and I do believe in Him and I do not write this to make light of what he went through for us. I merely thought it would also be a good song for this scenario as well. **_

_**Anyway, tell me what you think. Oh, and for those waiting for updates on my other stories, I have ideas for all three WIPs, plus 2 other oneshots. The Resolution will be first updated to make up for not having updating in like forever; then Letting Go of Love; then Why?; then either another Inuyasha oneshot or a Gundam Wing oneshot; then another round of the WIPs. Sound ok? **_

_**Trekker**_


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